Deacon Harrington looks to the faith to endure cancer diagnosis

Deacon Henry Harrington is surrounded by members of the St. Vincent de Paul parish choir after a special Mass held to honor him earlier this month. A member of the parish for 40 years, Deacon Harrington is relying on his faith, family, and fellow parishioners as he copes with a late-stage cancer diagnosis.

Deacon Henry Harrington is a man of very strong faith. It is safe to say that it permeates every aspect of his life and work.

And, as he deals with immuno-therapy treatments to fight stage four cancer of his lungs, kidneys and lymph nodes, he relies on his Catholic faith more than ever.

He has been a dedicated parishioner at St. Vincent de Paul Church since 1977, a campus minister for Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Meharry Medical College for six years, and is currently a guidance counselor for H.G. Hill Middle School. In 2006 he became a deacon, deepening his involvement with the St. Vincent de Paul parish.

“I’ve always felt a calling,” said Deacon Harrington. “I always did things around the church for the church. When I became a campus minister for TSU, Fisk and Meharry, I really started wanting to do more.”

He has a special place in the hearts of his fellow parishioners, who organized a mass in early April to honor his long-time commitment. Deacon Harrington was told the parish wanted to do something to thank him, but he wasn’t expecting anything big. Besides a church packed with the St. Vincent de Paul congregation, there were seven deacons present from other churches.

“It was so powerful and so overwhelming, their love, and their commitment to me,” he said. “I love that parish. I’m not talking about the building. I’m talking about the people. God has entrusted them to me as their deacon, and I really take that responsibility seriously.”

For Deacon Harrington, one of the best parts of being a deacon and having such an extensive history with one parish is watching youth turn into adults, get married, have their own children and become involved in their own ways with St. Vincent de Paul.

“I have one – Aaron Shelton – he was the TSU president on campus when I was the minister,” said Deacon Harrington. “He met his wife – Sabrina Haney – who was the Meharry president. They met at Fisk University when we were having a bible study. Now they’re in our parish. Aaron is on the parish council; Sabrina is in the Ladies’ Auxiliary. It is such a wonderful thing.”

He has also lived long enough to watch his own family grow, exponentially. He and his wife, Rosilyn, have been married 39 years. They have four children – Dawn, Henry III, Charles David and Amanda, ages 31 to 37. They have witnessed the births of eight grandchildren, including a fourth Henry.

Despite his diagnosis, Deacon Harrington is planning to continue watching his grandchildren become adults, remaining an involved father and grandfather. “We’re looking forward to a full life,” he said. “I think the Lord is gonna pull me out of this. I’m praying that he will. I have my faith that he will.”

The cancer was not diagnosed until last December, and had already advanced to the latter stages. At first, doctors suspected it was pneumonia. Deacon Harrington was given three rounds of antibiotics, but there was little improvement.

“That’s when we figured out that something else must be wrong,” he recalled. “They checked me for other things and I had cancer.”

To make matters worse, Deacon Harrington’s arm was badly injured the day of his diagnosis. He was getting into his truck and – though not even using it – his left arm broke. That arm hasn’t healed since December and has actually worsened, developing into a condition called “frozen shoulder,” which impacts the tissues around joints and causes extreme stiffness.

“My arm won’t go up, and that’s very, very painful,” said Deacon Harrington. “The frozen shoulder is more painful than the cancer, because it doesn’t allow you to sleep.”

The new health challenges inspired Deacon Harrington to reflect on his situation. Like many other people who receive life-threatening diagnoses, he went through a “why me?” phase, but ultimately arrived at some further understanding through delving into his faith.

“I started looking at how Jesus endured the cross,” explained Deacon Harrington. “He didn’t want to go to the cross. It showed up at the Garden of Gethsemane, when He was praying. His humanity did not want to go to the cross, but His faith took over. He was able to endure the cross because of His knowledge of God’s will. Right now, I’m able to endure my cross because I know that whatever I have, God is with me.

“I don’t think I would be able to deal with the cancer if it wasn’t for my faith,” continued Deacon Harrington. “I’m not worried at all about living or dying, I’m really not, because I know that if I’m absent from my body, I’m present with the Lord.”

His biggest fear now is being unable to work at the middle school and at the parish. He has chosen not to take short-term disability. He does physical therapy regularly to try to strengthen his arm and shoulder. He does immuno-therapy bi-weekly, a treatment that stimulates a person’s own immune system to attack the cancer cells.

“I don’t want to sit around the house and just think about having cancer,” said Deacon Harrington. “I love what I do as a counselor. I love talking to the kids and helping them through their transitions. And I don’t want to lose my preaching. I think the Lord has blessed me with the ability to preach, and I don’t want the Lord to take that away from me.”

Deacon Harrington is extremely grateful for the St. Vincent de Paul parishioners, who have taken him and his wife under their wings. “They’ve kept my spirits up,” he said. “The church and the pastor are so supportive. They give us money and whatever we need. They love to share their gifts. I’m so happy that we belong to a church that we love like we do.”